Culture,  Politics

Propaganda and “Plan B”

The FDA has just approved the use of a non-prescription “morning after” pill. According to the Associated Press, “Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription — but only with proof they’re 18 or older” (source).Anyone who reads this blog knows that I believe this to be a tragic development. I say that because the so-called “morning after” pill can act as an abortifacient. How does “Plan B” work? It is essentially a heavier dose of birth control pills that a woman takes within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. The “emergency contraception” works to restrict ovulation in a woman. But it also can act after conception by blocking implantation of an embryo in the uterine wall (source). When this happens, it’s not a contraceptive at all, but an abortifacient. In other words, this pill can cause an early-stage miscarriage.

Yet the AP reports this news as if it only works as a contraceptive that prevents pregnancy.

The pills are a concentrated dose of the same drug found in many regular birth-control pills. When a woman takes the pills within 72 hours of unprotected sex, they can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. If she already is pregnant, the pills have no effect (source).

I don’t know how to take this. The AP is either wittingly or unwittingly putting forth pro-choice propaganda when it describes drug-induced miscarriages as a prevention of pregnancy. If the AP were to be accurate in its description of “Plan B,” then its report would have plainly stated that sometimes the pill acts as a contraceptive, and sometimes as an abortifacient.

In any case, we should all acknowledge what the FDA has done. They have just approved over-the-counter access to the termination of pregancies.

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